COX-2 targeted PET imaging agent offers view of Inflammation

Novel imaging agents derived from inhibitors of the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), could make it possible to "see" inflammation due to Osteoarthritis or tumors in their earliest stages. COX-2 is an attractive target for molecular imaging. It's not found in most normal tissues, and then it is "turned on" in inflammatory lesions where it can be made detectable with positron emission tomography (PET). The trick, according to research at Vanderbilt University published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, was to modify the "core" chemical structures of the anti-inflammatory medicines indomethacin and celecoxib by adding radioactive fluorine. Intravenous injection of this 18-F compound into animal models provided sufficient signal for PET imaging. They showed that the 18-F compound accumulated in an inflamed foot in an animal model, but not the non-inflamed foot, and that pre-treatment of the animals with celecoxib blocked the signal. See: "Molecular Imaging of Inflammation and Carcinogenesis" Cancer Prev Res October 2011 4:1523-1526